The Post-Crisis Legitimacy of the European Union (PLATO)

Multiple crises have created new legitimacy challenges for the EU. Have the EU’s responses to these crises been legitimate? These questions are addressed by 20 partners in the European PhD network PLATO, which is coordinated by ARENA.

The Sainte-Geneviève Library in Paris (photo: John Towner / Unsplash.com)

About the project

PLATO is an EU-funded PhD network coordinated by Prof. Christopher Lord at ARENA. It brings together nine university partners from across Europe to recruit a group of 15 PhD researchers to undertake a common multidisciplinary investigation into crisis and the legitimacy of the Union. The doctoral researchers work together with senior researchers from across the network.

PLATO uses the example of the financial crisis to build and test theory of what would amount to a legitimacy crisis in the case of a multi-state, non-state political system such as the EU. For more information, please visit the PLATO project's website.

Partner institutions

PLATO's team brings together nine university partners and eleven training partners from the policy advice, civil society and consulting sector, media and career development.

University partners

University of Oslo, ARENA Centre for European Studies, Christopher Lord (coordinator)